This invention relates to the manufacture of open-head pails and the like which have pivotal bails. More particularly, this invention makes possible the manipulation of a pail during a finishing process, such as labeling, without having to first remove its bail.
Typically, the ends of a pail bail are centrally pivoted at the side of the pail. The hand grip portion generally lies equidistant from the pivots. When mounted in this fashion, the bail may swing freely from one side of the pail to the other; the locus of movement of the hand grip describing an arc of a circle. This freedom of movement of the bail offers a great convenience in using the pail, but is the source of a significant problem in finishing processes related to pail manufacture. One such finishing process, off-set printing of labels on pail sides, requires the pails to be rotated and revolved. This movement sets up centrifugal forces which swings the bail radially outward to a position along the side of the pail, i.e. the position where the label is desired. This can result in the label being misprinted or not printed at all. Therefore, the successful labeling of pails has required that the bail not be attached to the pail until after the printing procedure. This requirement results in the inefficient utilization of manpower in the pail manufacturing process.
In a plastic pail manufacturing operation, for example, it would be most advantageous to have the bails installed on the pails by the molder, immediately after molding. This is because the rate of molding, generally, is one-tenth the rate of labeling. To install the bail after printing requires an extra person on the printing line, while to install it after molding can be accomplished by the molder.
As a result thereof, considerable time and expense could be saved by restricting the free movement of the pivotal pail bail so as to allow the bail to be installed on the pail before finish processing, such as labeling. This is achieved in the instant invention by provision, in the labeling apparatus, of a bail blocking element which prevents the bail from pivoting when the pail is rotated or revolved during a printing operation.